Tubular building structures are used in a number of applications, such as for telecommunication towers, amusement towers and wind turbine towers. In such towers having a substantially closed outer surface, the structures are often made from tube sections of rolled steel plate arranged on top of each other. For large diameter structures, each tube section may be formed by interconnected axially extending tube segments, whereby they are easier to transport from the manufacturing site to the erection site. Such tube segments are typically made from rolled or bent steel plate. The tube sections can be joined by welding, but this may cause weaknesses e.g. due to induction of thermal stresses and therefore require highly skilled people and appropriate quality control. Alternatively, the tube sections can be joined by using traditional bolts and nuts, but this method also has some disadvantages. The plates are typically surface treated at the manufacturing site, but moisture percolating into the screw connections over time often results in corrosion which may be undesired for aesthetic reasons and which potentially leads to structural weaknesses.
Another disadvantage of assembling closed structures by traditional bolt-and-nut connections is that it requires access to both sides of the structure being assembled at the same time. This is particularly problematic when assembling so tall building structures that the people performing the assembly cannot stand on the ground.
Hence, an improved method of assembling a tubular building structure would be advantageous, and in particular a more efficient and/or reliable method would be advantageous.